Omly Crafts

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Stripley socklets

A project I did not even had time to mention before finishing them was this pair of quick socklets for myself. I had needed a no-brainer project and so had cast-on this pair from a single unloved 50g ball of self-striping in my stash.

Yarn: mystery wool-nylon blend

Needles: US 1 / 2.5 mm

Pattern: Riverbed Master Pattern with heel modifications (see below)

Pattern Source: New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi

Since I had cast these on toe-up from either end of the ball, the stripes are technically in opposite directions, which you probably would not notice unless it is pointed out (ahem like right now). Fortunately this does not trouble me in the slightest, and since these are so small they are just for me.

I had a lot of fun with the heel shaping, which was a modification from Cat Bordhi's original listed in the pattern. I can't imagine her as anything but pleased with people experimenting and trying something different though. Here I did the gusset stitches as in the original pattern, which I find particularly elegant as evidenced that I chose it again after using it twicebefore. Then I made a small heel turn and added short rows. The result is a heel that actually fits very well. I am super glad I did these two-at-once though in order to ensure they are identical in design though!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Socks in the Woods

Even though I am not formally participating in a Summer of Socks event, they are still remarkably perfect for summer time activitites. After the trip to Maine with Salvbard, I found myself back in Maine this time camping in the White Mountains. There are few things more fabulous than sitting around a campsite, smelling the campfire, catching up with friends, and listening to the woods all while knitting on a sock.

This pair is from some of the yarn acquisition a few weeks ago. They will be a set of grey socks in Jawoll Magic for Salvbard, who is probably overdue for another pair. I am a little nervous about the single ply nature of this yarn, but I will combine it with something else from stash for the toes and heels to help them hold up a little better.

Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Yarny Maine Adventures

For my birthday this year, Salvbard and I took a mini vacation to Maine. We stayed at a beautiful little house thanks to AirBnB. The area was super serene and outside any major town. In fact when we tried a web search for coffee places, we found there was a closer yarn shop than a coffee shop. Priorities! (Actually there were plenty of tiny restaurants that had coffee though, just not specialized coffee shops which makes sense.)

It is no secret that I love the ocean, and I spent some lovely time sitting on the deck, knitting and enjoying the location.

The rainbowblanket is continuing along. Some vacation yarn was acquired at Casco Bay Fibers in Freeport, ME. And it was really nice to get all the extra focused time together.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Green-headed Tanager

I have enjoyed working on bird drawings before, like the white-breasted nuthatch a while back. So I am bemused that it has been so long since I did any.

Yesterday I pulled out colored pencils to work on a green-headed tanager. Color! I wonder at what point do you ever think, "Nah, its cool. I totally have enough colored pencils." Fortunately I have a decent collection in this color range.

Sunday, June 07, 2015

Sketching outside Patagonia

Today I had help getting my daily sketch done. There was a bored little one outside a local Patagonia store which we were waiting to have open. With 5 minutes still until opening, her mom was looking frazzled, I invited the little to help me do some art while we waited.

Nothing fancy, just a quick, non-fussy sketch of a bike for me. She drew lots of flowers and let me keep this one. I love the total lack of fear in which kids approach art. Notice, I was the one working in pencil, while she worked straight in marker! So I didn't agonize over the details and worked to emulate her example.

Saturday, June 06, 2015

Stained Glass Tree Mural

After running an errand this morning, I opted to walk home rather than take the bus. As a result I stumbled across a woman named Crystal painting a public mural in one of my local parks. When I inquired about taking a photo (which she graciously said yes), I was also invited to help paint. How awesome!

This is where she started the day:

The plan was to have the community help add the color so that it started to look like this:

Seriously, this was a particularly awesome surprise in my day.

Public art, created by the community = awesome!

There was a great mix of adults and kids helping out. This is where we got to by the end of the day. I can't wait to see what happens next week!

Friday, June 05, 2015

IF: Airborne

I am sort of surprised by how much the line drawing with a permanent marker is pleasing to me at the moment.

permanent marker on cardstock

The Illustration Friday prompt for today was "airborne" and inspired today's daily sketch. I am always curious to see what others will do for the week's prompt, but I like to get mine done early so as not to get distracted by my own first conception. I went with maple seed pods but later also considered dandelion seeds, paper airplanes, and hot air balloons.

Lilac and Lady's Slippers

A while back I had a desperate urge to cast on a sweater for myself. Fair enough, it has been five years since the last one. Wait, seriously? How did that happen? Well I guess I don't knit a whole lot of sweaters to begin with, so fair enough.

So I dug around in my stash of sweater yarns. (I know right. Why do I have a stash of sweater quantity yarns if I don't tend to knit sweaters. It is inexplicable.) I have been wanting to knit Dark and Stormy for ages, so that was what I had in mind as I looked through my options.

From the shrine of precious yarns, I found a bag of Reynolds Odyssey (discontinued) that I had bought from Windsor Button during their closing sale. Odyssey is one of my favorite yarns, so why not make something that I can wear all the time and actually get to enjoy it.

The color is called lilac and is made up of many shades of soft purple, pinks and greens. From a distance it reads as a soft grey mostly, but I like the depth the color shifts add.

I worked on yesterday's daily sketch while Chiquita worked on her homework next to me on the couch. Earlier in the day I had kept putting away this image, thinking I should do it some other time. Ultimately like the lilac sweater, I realized "Why? What am I waiting for?"

mechanical pencil on cardstock

I had originally been planning to work in colored pencil, but when I took out my sets I was displeased with my options for pinks. They will definitely be used soon though. I am itching to work with color.

So far these sketches have all found homes, but I will probably end up running out of names from my postcard-art form. If you haven't already and are interested, please drop me an address for a random small piece of art.

About Me

I make stuff in my spare time. I am a knitter, but I also draw, do watercolor, spin, cross stitch, a bit of crochet and a bunch of other creative pursuits.
For me crafts are a creative outlet for my work life in science and engineering.